T-Travel Photography
Zdenko Takac & Iveta Takacova
Landscape, Travel & Fine Art Photography
Mt St Helens & Willamette NP
Lower Antelope Canyon
This canyon together with the Upper Antelope Canyons are the most visited and photographed slot canyons in the American Southwest. Because of that it is very difficult to take a good picture without crowds in it and being rushed by the tour guides, especially in the Upper Antelope Canyon. Both canyons are located only a few kilometres from each other.
If you are intererested in taking really nice photos, we reccommend booking a photo tour for both canyons. Both Antelope Canyons are not part of the US National Parks annual pass since they are on Navajo land. You need to pay for the tour per person so the cost is much higher than your usual National Park. You also need to pay a Navajo Tribal Fee which is $6 per person but you can use it for both canyons in one day. Since it is a slot canyon, you get to explore inside the canyon and witness how the flowing sunlight dances through the canyon walls.
To get to the Lower Antelope Canyon take highway 98 from Page towards Kaibeto, pass the Upper Antelope Canyon turnout, go another 400m, then turn left on Navajo Route N22B (Antelope Point Road) for about another 400m. The entrance sign is on your left.
The general admission for the guided tour is $20 per person and lasts one hour. The general admission for a photo tour is $36 per person but lasts 2 1/2 hours. To be eligible for a photo tour you must have your own tripod (no sharing). The main differerence between the guided tour and the photo tour is that the guided tour is 'one way' only which means that you will enter the canyon on one side and exit on the other with your guide. A Photo tour has a great advantage that you can wonder around the canyon by yourself in both directions without a guide and take pictures at your own pace. If you need to point out any interesting points, there is a guide wandering around who can help you.
As you can see above, the entrance to the canyon is very narrow and hardly visible to the naked eye. You wouldn't expect to find such a treasure hidden behind such a small entrance. The whole canyon is very narrow and in some parts you have to use ladders to move around.
Hiking this canyon is definitely more difficult than Upper Antelope as it is longer, narrower in spots, and even footing is not available in all areas. If you are taking a guided tour, at the end of your tour you need to climb up several flights of stairs. With a photo tour it's up to you which exit you use but we recommend going back and exiting via the entrance point. It gives you more opportunities to take pictures and the angles are different on the way back.